Sharing a single instance of a user defined type

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems and apparatus for implementing behavior of a user defined type (UDT) in a database by providing a data table with multiple rows and generating a UDT table having only a single row. An instance of a UDT is created and stored in the single row of the UDT table. A query having a Cartesian product is implemented to join the UDT table and data table for invoking behavior of the UDT and generating a resultant data table without increasing cardinality thereof. The single instance of the UDT may be shared amongst several users of the database as a result of all required persisted objects of the UDT residing within only a single row of the UDT table.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to data processing, and moreparticularly, to storing and accessing an instance of a user definedtype in a table for optimization of a relational database managementsystem.

2. Description of Related Art

A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a database managementsystem that uses relational techniques for storing and retrieving data.Relational databases are organized into physical tables that consist ofrows and columns of data, wherein the data is defined so that it can bereorganized and accessed in a number of different ways. A requestingentity, which may be an application or the operating system, requestsdatabase access using a high-level query language.

Simple algebraic operations, such as those embodied in Structured QueryLanguage (SQL), are used to process large amounts of data within arelational database. SQL is a programming language for gettinginformation from, writing information to and updating a database byallowing users to formulate relational operations through queries orrequests on tables or views. These table queries may be interactive, inbatch files, or embedded in host languages, and may be used to logicallylink information from multiple tables or views to perform complex setsof procedures. In order to perform such operations, SQL operators areprovided that operate on one or two tables and produce a new table as aresult.

While relational databases are useful for storing and processing largeamounts of data, as the data types become increasingly complex, morefocused database models are required for storing and processing suchcomplex data. For instance, object-oriented databases are able tointegrate computer code with a variety of different types of data,including, complex and hierarchical data. In such a system, the datavalues in a column may be objects which have user defined types, whichare complex data types that include both state information and methodsfor using such state information. However, since the ability to accessdata within an object-oriented database is often cumbersome anddifficult, these types of databases are often undesirable and havehindered the development of easy SQL-type access mechanisms.

More recently, object-relational databases have been developed toinclude the advantages of both the relational and object-orienteddatabases. Object-relational databases provide the flexibility ofstoring complex and hierarchical data, along with the ability to accesssuch data through database methodologies, such as those used inrelational database modeling (e.g., SQL queries). However, currentaccess to this complex data requires iteration through data tableshaving columns each with a number of rows. This requires the user of thedatabase to construct an algorithm, or even a number of algorithms, toaccess such data, which in turn, is time consuming and leads to loss inproductivity. Further, since the user defined data may be accessed fromdifferent rows, which may or may not reside in different tables, anyinaccuracies in the algorithm may undesirably result in the exclusion ofor dropping of required user defined data that another data typedirectly or indirectly makes use of, thereby resulting in an error.

Therefore, there continues to be a need in the art for improved methods,systems and articles for storing and accessing embedded data in adatabase management system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it istherefore an object of the present invention to provide methods, systemsand articles for easily and efficiently storing and accessing embeddeddata in a database management system.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an efficient querysystem for accessing embedded data, particularly, embedded user defineddata, in a database system.

It is another object of the present invention to provide methods,systems and articles for easily and efficiently storing and accessingembedded user defined data in a relational database for sharing a singleinstance of such user defined data.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part beobvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The above and other objects, which will be apparent to those skilled inthe art, are achieved in the present invention, which is directed to amethod of implementing behavior of a user defined type in a databasemanagement system. The method includes providing a database having adata table with multiple rows and generating within the database a userdefined type (UDT) table having only a single row. An instance of a UDThaving persisted objects is created and stored within the single row ofthe UDT table. A query having a Cartesian product is then implemented tojoin the UDT table and data table for invoking behavior of the instanceof the UDT. The result is a resultant data table having an equivalentcardinality as the data table.

The UDT may be a distinct UDT, a structured UDT or a reference UDT. Thedatabase may be either a relational database or an object relationaldatabase. Optionally the UDT table may include multiple columns definedas various UDTs, whereby every instance of the various UDTs each hasonly a single row for storing their respective persisted objectstherein. From this single row, at least one or more of the persistedobjects are used by the query to invoke the behavior of the UDT. Thesepersisted objects may be data objects, methodology or even combinationsthereof.

In accordance with the invention, only a single instance of the presentUDT resides on the database. As such, the database may have multipledata tables, each with multiple rows, whereby upon implementing thequery to join the UDT table and each of these multiple data tables,behavior of the UDT is invoked to generate multiple resultant datatables. An essential feature of the invention is that each of thesemultiple resultant data tables has the same number of data rows(cardinality) as compared to the number of rows in its correspondingdata table with which the UDT table was joined.

In this aspect, either a single user or multiple users of the databasemay use the present single instance of the UDT table. The single user,or multiple users sharing the UDT table, may generate additional queriesfor implementation on the single instance of the UDT table of theinvention. These queries may be simultaneously or sequentially executed.The methods of the invention are particularly useful for higher orderlanguages such as, for instance, SQL.

The invention is also directed to systems, articles and products forperforming the present methods of implementing behavior of a userdefined type in a database management system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel and the elementscharacteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in theappended claims. The figures are for illustration purposes only and arenot drawn to scale. The invention itself, however, both as toorganization and method of operation, may best be understood byreference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a prior art illustration of a conventional user defined typedatabase table.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of an aspect of amethod of the present invention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate a UDT table of the invention that may beinvoked in a single query or shared amongst several queries within arelational database management system, respectively.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram representing an exemplary computing device inwhich the present invention may be implemented.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

In describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention,reference will be made herein to FIGS. 1-4 of the drawings in which likenumerals refer to like features of the invention.

A user defined type (UDT) is a data type created by a user and stored ina database. Generally, user defined data types contain state informationand methods for invoking such state information. As such, it is oftendesired, or even required, that a user of the database access and usethis type of data multiple times for a given method, and/or even sharesuch data type amongst several users or entities of the database.

There are three user defined data types, namely, a distinct type, astructured type and a reference type. A distinct type is a UDT thatshares its internal representation with an existing type (its “source”type), but is considered to be a separate and incompatible type for mostoperations. For example, one might want to define a picture type, a texttype, and an audio type, all of which have quite different semantics,but which use the same built-in data type for their internalrepresentation. This allows the creation of functions writtenspecifically for each type (e.g., a picture), and assures that thesefunctions will not be applied to values of any other data type (e.g.,text and audio).

A structured type is a UDT having a structure defined in the databaseand contains one or more named attributes, each of which has a name anda data type of its own. A structured type can be a subtype of anotherstructured type (called a supertype), defining a type hierarchy. Eachstructured type may be a type of table (i.e., typed table), view (i.e.,typed view), or column. Generally, within typed tables and typed views,each column within such tables and views derives its name and data typefrom one of the attributes of the structured type. Rows of the typedtable or typed view represent instances of the structured type. Astructured user defined data type also includes a set of methodologies,whereby such methods are used to retrieve and/or manipulate attributesof a structured column object. A type cannot be dropped if certain otherobjects use the type, either directly or indirectly. For example, a typecannot be dropped if a table or view column makes direct or indirect useof the type.

Reference user defined type is a companion to a structured type. Likethat of the distinct type, a reference type shares a commonrepresentation with one of the built-in data types, which is shared forall types in the type hierarchy. The reference type representation isdefined when the root of a type hierarchy is created, and when using thereference type, a structured type is specified as the parameter.

Traditionally, regardless of the type of user defined data, this datatype is created and stored in a table or view having columns withmultiple rows. FIG. 1 shows an example of a traditional relationaldatabase table with columns of UDTs each with multiple rows, wherebydata objects, and optionally methodology, reside in the rows of eachcorresponding UDT. In order to access data objects and methods within agiven row, a query (i.e., a process or algorithm) that makes a specificreference to the exact row having the desired data is used for accessthereof and invoking of any such methods therein.

However, a problem with the conventional UDTs is that often a number ofqueries must be generated when the desired data resides in a number ofdifferent rows within a UDT table (e.g., a separate query for each row).Also, in order to minimize cardinality (i.e., number of rows) of theresultant data set, a number of separate UDT tables are often requiredfor joining against the various rows of the database table. As such,these conventional UDT approaches are cumbersome and time consuming, andmay even provide inaccurate results since all required data may notreside within a selected row of the UDT and/or due to faulty queries(e.g., exclusion or dropping of required user defined data), which leadsto loss of productivity.

The present invention overcomes these problems of the prior art byproviding improved methods and systems for storing and retrieving userdefined data types in relational database or object relational databasesystems. The methods and systems of the invention easily and efficientlystore user defined data types in a relational table of the invention,which has only a single row. The invention also provides efficientaccess to this stored user defined data so that a single instance ofsuch user defined data can be employed in a number of different queriesby a user, or even shared amongst various users of the database, attheir respective computers, for use in a number of different queries.

FIG. 2 shows an instance of a UDT of the invention defined on a databaseserver. However, it should be appreciated that many variations of thepresent single-rowed UDT table will exist in accordance with theinvention, whereby such UDT variations can be any of the above-describedtypes. In so doing, a relational table is generated in a databasemanagement system, whereby this relational table 10 has at least onecolumn of a UDT with only a single row. Alternatively, the present UDTrelational table 10 may be generated such that it contains multiplecolumns of UDTs, each with only a single row (i.e., one row) ofpersisted objects.

The persisted objects in the single row of the present UDT table includedata objects, methods and combinations thereof for invoking behavior ofthe instance of the UDT. The UDT behavior is implemented by using atleast some, if not all, of the data objects within the single-Towed UDTtable. For instance, referring to FIG. 2, the UDT table 10 may have anumber of data objects (e.g., data objects A, B, C, D, etc.) as well asa number of different methods (i.e., method 1, method 2, etc.) thatimplement selected data objects, or even possibly all of the dataobjects, within the single row UDT table. As such, all necessary dataobjects and methods needed for implementing methodology (i.e., behavior)of a persisted object in the UDT table are stored in the present singlerow UDT table, which essentially eliminates any exclusions or droppingof required user defined data that the methodology or other data typesdirectly or indirectly use or rely upon.

Once the UDT table 10 of the invention is generated and stored in thedatabase, the methodologies therein may be invoked against various otherdata tables within the relational database. For illustration purposes,and not to limit the invention, FIG. 2 shows two data tables 20 a, 20 bthat reside in the database. These tables 20 a, 20 b may be separatetables having a number of columns (i.e., Table 1 column and Table 2column) each with numerous rows of data, or it may be a single tablehaving both numerous columns and numerous rows.

In order to invoke methodology or generate behavior of the presentsingle-rowed UDT table, a query 30 is generated to join the UDT table 10with at least one column, possibly multiple columns, of a separatedatabase table (e.g., table 20 a and/or table 20 b, etc.). An essentialfeature is that the query 30 of the invention includes a Cartesianproduct for joining the UDT table to another table within the database.

As will be understood, a Cartesian product is a direct product of allpossible sets of ordered pairs of data from at least two data sets(e.g., Cartesian product of two sets X and Y is denoted as X×Y={(x,y)x εX and y ε Y}. For example, if table X has three data rows, respectivelycontaining data objects 1, 2 and 3, and table Y has two data rows,respectively containing data objects a and b, when tables X and Y arejoined using a Cartesian product the cardinality (i.e., number of rows)of the resultant data table is significantly increased to six rowscontaining, respectively, data objects 1 a, 1 b, 2 a, 2 b, 3 a and 3 c.However, in the art of the invention, joined tables each have numerousrows, or even complex data therein, such that the cardinality of theresultant data table is deleteriously large when numerous rows arejoined against numerous rows. As such, while Cartesian Products may beknown in the art, they are disfavored, particularly in higher orderlanguages (e.g., SQL), and generally result from a faulty query sinceall combinations of rows of joined tables will be displayed, which isundesirably time consuming, memory intensive and leads to loss ofproductivity.

Advantageously, it has now been found that by generating a UDT tablewith only a single row, and storing both data objects and methodology(i.e., behavior) in this single row, behavior is obtainable from the UDTwithout increasing cardinality of the resultant data set using aCartesian product. Another advantage is that because of the use of thepresent Cartesian product query, the single-rowed UDT table of theinvention need only be generated once, as compared to conventional UDTtables with a number of rows having to be generated numerous times forjoining with data rows in order to avoid increasing cardinality of theresultant data set.

In accordance with the invention, a query 30 with a Cartesian product isgenerated such that it joins the UDT table 10 with one or more datatables 20 a, 20 b of the relational database for invoking desired (orselected) methodology of the UDT table 10 on the data residing withinsuch data tables 20 a, 20 b. The desired method(s) of the UDT table 10are invoked, whereby selected ones, or all, of the data objects withinthe UDT table 10 are used in the selected UDT method(s) along with datafrom data tables 20 a, 20 b having rows (1 . . . n). The present query30 includes a Cartesian product, such that, when the single row UDTtable 10 containing data and methodology is joined with the rows (1 . .. n) of relational database tables 20 a, 20 b, the cardinality (i.e.,number of rows) of the resultant tables 40 a, 40 b are not increasedover that of the number of rows of joined relational database tables 20a, 20 b, as is shown in FIG. 2. Further, since all necessary persistedobjects are contained within the single row of the present UDT table 10,a single instance of UDT table 10 can be used for every row of everyjoined database table, thereby avoiding the need for separate instancesof a UDT table for joined rows.

For example, the below query 30 (i.e., algorithm) or other equivalentmay be used to join relational database tables with the preset singlerow UDT table 10 to generate useful resultant data tables withoutincreasing the cardinality thereof. The UDT table 10 is a single row UDTin SQL (i.e., SQL_SINGLETON(SINGLETON)) having an instance of a UDTnamed CHANGE_INDICATOR with persisted objects of methods named INIT andGET_INDICATOR. This UDT table is to be joined to a first relationaldatabase table 20 a named TABLE_ONE and a second database table 20 bnamed TABLE_TWO. Using a SELECT . . . FROM clause, data from databasetable 20 a and methods of the CHANGE—INDICATOR UDT (as well as any otherpersisted objects within the UDT table that such methods rely upon) areselected, with the FROM clause identifying such database table 20 a(i.e., TABLE_ONE) and UDT table (i.e., SQL_SINGLETON). The subset ofdata is treated as a new table, which is typically a temporary table,called TEMP_TABLE_ONE.

Likewise, for the second database table 20 b named TABLE_TWO, thisprocess is repeated to generate a temporary table called TEMP_TABLE_TWO.

The query 30 then uses a Cartesian product to SELECT all the data inTEMP_TABLE_ONE (i.e., data from UDT named CHANGE_INDICATOR andTABLE_ONE) and joins such data in a UNION ALL command to generate“Resultant Table 1” 40 a having the same cardinality (number of rows) asrelational database table 20 a. Using the same instance of the UDT, thequery 30 also uses a Cartesian product to SELECT all the data inTEMP_TABLE_ TWO and joins such data in another UNION ALL command togenerate “Resultant Table 2” 40 b having the same cardinality (number ofrows) as relational database table 20 b. A Cartesian product isintegrated into the present query 30 by eliminating WHERE clauses withinthe algorithm, since a WHERE clause determines which rows should bereturned in the result table. By removing any instances of a WHEREclause, all rows in one table will be joined against all rows in anothertable (i.e., a Cartesian product).

WITH SQL_SINGLETON( SINGLETON ) AS (  VALUES   CHANGE_INDICATOR()...INIT( ‘VALUE’ ) ), TEMP_TABLE_ONE AS (  SELECT   STATE_VAR,  SINGLETON.GET_INDICATOR( STATE_VAR ),  FROM   TABLE_ONE,  SQL_SINGLETON ), TEMP_TABLE_TWO AS (  SELECT   STATE_VAR,  SINGLETON.GET_INDICATOR( STATE_VAR ),  FROM   TABLE_TWO,  SQL_SINGLETON ) SELECT   * FROM   TEMP_TABLE_ONE   UNION ALL SELECT  * FROM   TEMP_TABLE_TWO   UNION ALL

It should be appreciated and understood that the above-described query(or algorithm) is for exemplary purposes only. Other softwaresubroutines may be employed, obtaining similar results through differentcoded functions. The present invention is not limited to any oneparticular type of software code, nor is it relegated to any oneparticular suite of functions to obtain the resultant output.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, since the present UDT table 10 need onlybe generated once, only a single instance of this UDT table is storedand resides on the relational database. This single instance of the UDTtable can be accessed and used by a single user of the relationaldatabase, or it may be shared amongst several users of the relationaldatabase, either in a network environment or distributed computingenvironment. As shown in FIG. 3A, a single instance of the UDT table maybe invoked by a user to join UDT table 10 with a database table using aCartesian product. Alternatively, FIG. 3B shows that the single instanceof the UDT table may be used numerous times either by a single user orby multiple users of the database. The multiple uses of the single UDTtable 10 may be by a single user through either simultaneous orsequential uses, or these multiple uses may be by several users of thedatabase at their respective locations, which may also be simultaneousor sequential uses.

Accordingly, the invention provides an easy and efficient approach toaccess and use data and methodology of a single instance of a UDT tablehaving only one row of persisted objects, as well as allows sharing ofthis single instance of the UDT table within a database managementsystem. The invention also enables user(s) to easily, efficiently andsimultaneously get behavior from this single instance of the UDT table,without increasing cardinality of the resultant data set. The inventionis particularly useful in higher order languages, such as, SQL.

While the invention has been described in the general context of adatabase software program that runs on an operating system inconjunction with a personal computer, those skilled in the art willrecognize that all, or any portion thereof, the various systems,methods, and aspects of the invention may be embodied in hardware,software, or a combination of both. When embodied in software, anyand/or all of the invention, may be embodied in the form of programcode, i.e., a set of instructions, which may be stored on acomputer-readable medium. The computer-readable medium includes, but isnot limited to, a magnetic, electrical, or optical storage medium,including without limitation a floppy diskette, CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM,DVD-RAM, magnetic tape, flash memory, hard disk drive, or any othermachine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code isloaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer or server, themachine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention.

Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the invention may bepracticed with other computer system configurations, including hand-helddevices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.The invention may also be practiced in a network environment ordistributed computing environment, having remote or local storage, wheretasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked througha communications network.

The invention may be embodied in the form of program code that istransmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electricalwiring or cabling, through fiber optics, over a network, including alocal area network, a wide area network, the Internet or an intranet, orvia any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code isreceived and loaded into and executed by a machine, which again becomesan apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on ageneral-purpose processor, the program code may combine with theprocessor to provide a unique apparatus that operates analogously tospecific logic circuits

For instance, referring to FIG. 4, an exemplary system for implementingthe invention includes a conventional personal computer 200, including aprocessor 201 coupled to a system memory 202 via a system bus 203. Thesystem memory 22 includes read only memory (ROM) with an input/output(BIOS), and random access memory (RAM with basic routines fortransferring information between elements within the computer andoperating the present invention, including, an operating system, adatabase management program, program data, and various other programmodule.

Also connected to the system bus 203 is a hard disk drive 204 via a harddisk drive interface 205, a magnetic disk drive 206 via a magnetic diskdrive interface 207 (to read from or write to a removable disk), and anoptical disk drive 208 via an optical disk drive 209 for reading aCD-ROM disk). These drives and their associated computer-readable mediaprovide nonvolatile storage for the personal computer 200. While theforegoing has been described in relation to a hard disk, removablemagnetic disk and CD-ROM disk, any other types of media that arereadable by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards,digital video disks, Bernoulli cartridges, and the like, may also beused in this exemplary system.

Again, a number of program modules may be stored in the hard driveinterface and RAM, including an operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, and program data. Inparticular, one of the program modules is a database management softwareprogram that includes certain embodiments of the invention describedabove. These and other input devices are often connected to theprocessing unit through a serial port interface 210 that is coupled tothe system bus, but may be connected by other known interfaces (e.g., agame port or a universal serial bus (USB), etc.). Input devicesincluding but not limited to a mouse 212, keyboard 213 and modem 214 maybe connected to the system bus 203 via a serial port interface. Amonitor 47 (or other type of display device) is also connected to thesystem bus 23 via a video interface, such as a video adapter 48. Inaddition to the monitor, personal computers typically include otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers or printers.Additionally, other input devices, such as a microphone, joystick, gamepad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like, may be connected to thecomputer, as well as other peripheral output devices, such as, speakersor printers.

The computer may operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer300. This remote computer may be a server, a router, a peer device orother common network node, and typically includes many or all of theelements described relative to personal computer 200. The remotecomputer 300 may be connected to personal computer 200 by a local areanetwork (LAN) 310 via a network interface 215 (which is connected by thesystem bus 203) or a wide area network (WAN) 52 via modem 214 (which maybe internal to the computer or external (i.e., connected by the systembus 203 by the input serial port interface 210)) or other means forestablishing communications over the WAN 52, such as the Internet. Boththe LAN and WAN networks are commonplace in offices, enterprise-widecomputer networks, intranets and the Internet. It will be appreciatedthat the network connections shown are exemplary and other means ofestablishing a communications link between the computers may be used.

It will be appreciated that the principles of the invention are notstrictly limited to standalone database software programs, but couldequivalently be applied to any computer-implemented system that involvesthe use of object-relational concepts and data storage, or anyapplication that a query system is desired for accessing non-relationaldata structures. It will be further appreciated that the invention couldequivalently be implemented on host or server computers other thanpersonal computers, and could equivalently be transmitted to the hostcomputer by means other than a CD-ROM, for example, by way of a networkconnection interface.

An exemplary networked or distributed computing environment includes anumber of computing server objects and a number of computing devices,with the server objects in communication with the client computingdevices (i.e., computers) via a network, in which the present inventionmay be employed. The network may be a LAN, WAN, intranet, the Internet,or some other network medium, with a number of client or remotecomputing devices and at least one server computer. The computingdevices may include, but are not limited to, computers, various digitaldevices such as PDAs, televisions, MP3 players, etc., software objectssuch as interfaces, COM objects and the like. For instance, in a networkenvironment in which the communications network is the Internet, theservers can be servers with which the client computing devicescommunicate via any of a number of known protocols, such as, HTTP. Inaccordance with the invention, each object may contain an applicationthat might make use of an API, or other object, software, firmwareand/or hardware, to request use of the processes used to implement theobject persistence methods of the present invention. Thus, the networkinfrastructure enables a host of network topologies such asclient/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures.

While the present invention has been particularly described, inconjunction with a specific preferred embodiment, it is understood thatchanges may be made to the embodiments described above without departingfrom the broad inventive concepts thereof. It is also understood thatthat the present invention may be embodied in any database managementsystem that supports the creation and use of user defined types.Accordingly, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications andvariations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of theforegoing description. It is therefore contemplated that the appendedclaims will embrace any such alternatives, modifications and variationsas falling within the true scope and spirit of the present invention.

Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A method of implementing behavior of a user defined type in adatabase management system comprising: providing a database on acomputer, said database having a data table with multiple rows;generating within said database a user defined type (UDT) table havingonly a single row; creating an instance of a UDT having persistedobjects; storing said instance of said UDT having said persisted objectswithin said single row of said UDT table; implementing on said computera query having a Cartesian product to join said single row UDT table andsaid data table; and invoking behavior of said instance of said UDT onsaid computer to generate a resultant data table having an equivalentcardinality as said data table.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein saidinstance of said UDT comprises a type selected from the group consistingof a distinct UDT, a structured UDT and a reference UDT.
 3. The methodof claim 1 wherein said database comprises a relational database.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein said database comprises an object relationaldatabase.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein said UDT table furtherincludes multiple columns defined as various UDTs each having only saidsingle row.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein said instance of said UDTincludes persisted objects, whereby at least one or more of saidpersisted objects are used by said query to invoke said behavior.
 7. Themethod of claim 5 wherein said persisted objects are selected from thegroup consisting of data objects, methodology and combinations thereof.8. The method of claim 1 wherein only a single instance of said UDTresides in said database.
 9. The method of claim 1 further comprising:providing said database having multiple data tables each with multiplerows; implementing on said computer said query to join said UDT tableand said multiple data tables; and invoking said behavior of saidinstance of said UDT on said computer to generate multiple resultantdata tables without increasing cardinality of each said resultant datatable.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein a single user implements saidquery to invoke said behavior.
 11. The method of claim 10 furthercomprising said single user generating at least a second query forimplementation on said UDT table to invoke additional behavior of saidUDT.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said query and said second queryare implemented simultaneously.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein saidquery and said second query are implemented sequentially.
 14. The methodof claim 1 further comprising multiple users of said database sharing asingle instance of said UDT table.
 15. The method of claim 1 whereinsaid multiple users share said single instance of said UDT table byimplementing a number of different queries on said UDT table.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 wherein said query and at least some of saiddifferent queries are implemented simultaneously.
 17. The method ofclaim 15 wherein said query and at least some of said different queriesare implemented sequentially.
 18. The method of claim 1 furthercomprising performing said method in said database management systemusing SQL.
 19. A computer program product comprising: a computer usablemedium having computer readable program code means embodied therein forimplementing behavior of a user defined type in a database managementsystem, said program code, when executed on a computer, causing thecomputer to: provide a database having a data table with multiple rows;generate a user defined type (UDT) table having only a single row withinsaid database; create an instance of a UDT having persisted objects;store said instance of said UDT having said persisted objects withinsaid single row of said UDT table; implement a query having a Cartesianproduct for joining said single row UDT table and said data table; andinvoke behavior of said instance of said UDT to generate a resultantdata table having an equivalent cardinality as said data table.
 20. Anarticle of manufacture comprising a program storage device readable by aprocessor capable of executing instructions and tangibly embodying aprogram of instructions executable by the processor to perform methodsteps for implementing behavior of a user defined type in a databasemanagement system, said method steps comprising: providing a databasehaving a data table with multiple rows; generating within said databasea user defined type (UDT) table having only a single row; creating aninstance of a UDT having persisted objects; storing said instance ofsaid UDT having said persisted objects within said single row of saidUDT table; implementing a query having a Cartesian product to join saidsingle row UDT table and said data table; and invoking behavior of saidinstance of said UDT to generate a resultant data table having anequivalent cardinality as said data table.